So I've been cutting for several weeks now and wanted to write about what I'm doing this time around. I've mentioned before that people grossly over-estimate how much protein they need; I believe I linked to a study showing that around 140g you reach nitrogen balance, and 160g being peak protein synthesis. Past that there's diminishing returns for each gram you ingest So last summer on off-days I kept it around 140, and on workout days I was around 180. I ate a bit more on my workout days than in the past as well. As for exercises, I added in 400m sprints.
The results were decent, but left me wanting more. First, as far as diet goes, getting 140g of protein the day after a savage workout isn't really conducive to progress. I did hold on to strength better through the cut but I think that was more a product of eating more on the workout days. I also feel like while the 400s were decent, it's just so different than 100s that it just made me decent but not great at either. The 400 is something you really need to plan your training around, and it's pretty much the opposite of what I'm going for with all the other stuff I do.
So this year I'm going to focus on 100s at the track again (and some 200s). I'm upping protein across the board, trying for 190+ on workout days, and 180 on non-workout. Even if there's diminishing returns past 160g or so for most people, it's still a return. I'm also going to be posting screen shots of my nutrition log for the coming week to give a sense of what I'm doing.
